The Pass
by befoulmetalroosa
Summary: Draco's on the edge. Unwilling to face his failures anymore, he wants to end it all. Will Harry be able to change his mind?


**The Pass**

A/N: _The Pass_, from the album **Presto**, written by Rush. Produced by Rupert Hine and Rush. ã1989 Atlantic Recording Corporation. Published by Core Music Publishing (SOCAN). All rights reserved.

* * *

_Proud swagger out of the schoolyard_

_Waiting for the world's applause_

_Rebel without a conscience_

_Martyr without a cause_

He was always the big man on campus. The Ice Prince of Slytherin. From the moment he'd been sorted into the snakepit, his name and his money made him _important_. So he acted like the king of the mountain. He'd made sure that he fought to keep that precious, coveted peak for as long as possible. To that end, he'd made the rest of Slytherin house understand, through blackmail and violence, that he would not be unseated from his lofty perch. He'd strut through the courtyard, belittling and humiliating all he could to prove he was perfection personified. He was better than all the halfbloods and mudbloods that had the nerve to attend Hogwarts with the far superior purebloods. Except for _him_. There was something about _him_ that made him different. Special. So the Ice Prince of Slytherin acted as he did to prove to the one person who mattered that everyone else but _Draco_ was worth so little of the other boy's time. No matter how hard he tried, however, the other boy would either scorn him or ignore him.

His task had been simple; make friends with Potter and bring him to the Dark. Draco thought his power and influence would be what would attract Potter, since the raven had no power or influence of his own, being raised by muggles like he was. Malfoy hadn't counted on the entirety of the wizarding world falling all over themselves to impress the Potter heir. So he changed tactics, and tried to show Harry that Weasel and the mudblood were beneath Potter's attentions. That they weren't worth all of the loyalty the raven had shown them, considering how quickly and frequently they'd betrayed him. But nothing would bring the emerald eyed boy around to Draco's way of thinking; nothing would bring the blond the only thing he'd _ever_ coveted.

* * *

Draco stood on the wall of the Astronomy tower, staring intently down at the miniscule students running to and fro as they blissfully, obliviously went about their business. He was deep within his own mind, going over again and again his consistent failures in procuring Harry Potter for his Lord. His eyes scanned the scene below, failing to see the one solitary, stationary pale face, upturned and with a look of absolute panic on it, before it disappeared into the building.

* * *

Harry charged up the stairs, praying that, for once, they would obey his magic and _stay put_. He would never have noticed Draco, had it not been for Ron's sniggering comments about amazing _flying_ ferrets. He'd looked up in terror, watching as Draco's body wavered slightly in the breeze, before he'd fled back into the building and toward the only person, outside of Tom Riddle, who meant _anything_ to him.

* * *

_Static on your frequency_

_Electrical storm in your veins_

_Raging at unreachable glory_

_Straining at invisible chains_

He was always _so close_. Always within a fingertip's grasp of the brass ring. The prize that would earn him praise, accolades, and his rightful place at the right hand of the Dark Lord. The beauty that would soothe the ache in his heart and soul, and be the mate that Draco deserved. And yet, every single time, someone or something would interfere, and the prize would slip through his fingers like so much sand. _I've shamed my father. I've shamed the family name. I've shamed the __**Dark Lord**__, for Merlin's sake. My humiliation is complete. The only thing I can do right, is die.  
_

* * *

_And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge_

_Staring down into a heartless sea_

_Can't face life on a razor's edge_

_Nothing's what you thought it would be_

"No, Draconis, that is not how you do that charm," Lucius snapped, ignoring the wince on the five year old's face as he scolded him. "You must get the wand movement right. Watch me, and do _exactly_ as I do."

"No, son, that is _not_ how you seat an Abraxan," Lucius sighed impatiently, ignoring the hurt in silver eyes as he corrected his seven year old son. "Watch me and see how to _properly_ ride the winged ones."

"You've failed to become Potter's friend," Lucius murmured shamefully, looking askance at the other associates for the Dark in the room. "How could you bring such dishonor to the family?" Draco winced as every eye was on him in his disgrace, and he wished, for the first time at eleven years old, that he were dead.

"One simple thing, son," his father yelled, throwing a book across the room. He stood behind his desk, berating his son in the privacy of his office. "The Dark Lord required only that you bring Potter to him. I _know_ that you've had ample opportunity to achieve this one simple goal, and yet you've failed again and again. Merlin only knows how long the Dark Lord will hold his patience before he punishes you for your bungling." The fifteen year old hung his head, his eyes dry. He _refused_ to cry because of Potter, but his heart throbbed painfully, and he wished, not for the first time, for death.

* * *

Harry burst through the door to the Astronomy tower, startling the blond from his introspection. Silver eyes widened on emerald, and a flush of embarrassment colored pale cheeks.

"P-Potter. What are you doing here? Come to gloat? To rub in your triumph over me? Well, let's hear it. I want your scornful laughter to be the last thing I hear, as I deserve no less for my epic failures."

_It's not as if this barricade_

_Blocks the only road_

_It's not as if you're all alone_

_In wanting to explode_

"Draco, please," the raven pleaded, tears in his eyes as he stared at the blond. The Malfoy heir was listening, but was too far gone in his self-pity and self-hate to actually _hear_ what Potter was saying. "Don't do this. You think you're the only one who's failed at something? You think you're alone in feeling lost and rejected and _abandoned_? How many times has the wizarding world turned on _me_; accused _me_ of reprehensible things? Remember the Triwizard Tournament? Remember how even my supposed _best friends_ abandoned me?" The blond looked into emerald eyes, a wry smile curling his lips.

"That's just it, Potter," he said scathingly. "Even though you'd been betrayed by everyone, they still come back to you. They still want to love and honor and _worship_ you. No one feels that for _me_. When _I_ fail, it's fodder for jokes and pranks and further humiliation." Silver eyes glowed with the pain of his failings, and he looked once again into emerald eyes, failing to see the love and desperation in them. "The only thing I have left; the only thing I will be able to do right, is die." The blond turned away from the raven, looking back down into the courtyard. He didn't see the anguish on Harry's face, nor did he hear the steps tracking quickly toward him.

_Someone set a bad example_

_Made surrender seem all right_

_The act of a noble warrior_

_Who lost the will to fight_

_**Tom, **_Harry thought desperately, _**what do I do? How do I stop him? He's my soul and I can't live without him. If he goes over the wall, I'll follow.**_

_**You mustn't do that, Harry, **_Riddle replied frantically, wracking his brain for a solution. _**Let me talk to him. I know we've been practicing allowing me to possess you. Let me take over now. **_Nodding, the raven relaxed and closed his eyes, sinking into the 'room' he'd created within his mind for times when he'd needed to escape everything but had nowhere else to go. Tom stepped forward into Harry's mind and body, and the emerald eyes opened, allowing the Dark Lord to take in the scene before him.

Draco was blind and deaf to anything Harry had to say, and the Dark Lord sighed softly in despair as he watched the statuesque blond waver in the strengthening winds. _One of my best men, ready to kill himself over his perceived failures. He does not realize that he'd succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. His father is responsible for this, and I __**will**__ make the insufferable, arrogant man pay._

"Draco," the man said softly, sadly. The blond noticed the difference in Harry's voice; the change in timbre and tone, and looked into those pleading emerald eyes. He saw flecks of crimson, and his own silver eyes widened in surprise. "Please don't do this. You are an important and valuable part of my organization, and Harry _needs_ you."

_And now you're trembling on a rocky ledge_

_Staring down into a heartless sea_

_Done with life on a razor's edge_

_Nothing's what you thought it would be_

"My Lord," Draco murmured reverently, bowing his head to hide his shame. "I…I did not expect you to appear through _Potter_, of all people. I must apologize for not succeeding in procuring the Boy Who Lived for you. I am endeavoring to correct that failure and remove my incompetence from your organization." Turning, the boy slowly leaned forward until gravity took hold and pulled him from the ledge. Harry surged forward to take over, ready to leap after his soul mate, and the both of them ran to the parapet, watching as Draco seemed to float lazily to the ground. Both of Harry's hands were thrust out, and magic not ever felt before swelled up and out as both powerful wizards joined their magics, wrapping the power around the blond just before he hit the earth. Screams and shrieks danced all over the quad as the boy's body thumped harshly and painfully to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth. Though their magic was able to greatly slow his fall, it was a little late, and Draco had incurred massive internal damage on impact.

* * *

_No hero in your tragedy_

_No daring in your escape_

_No salutes for your surrender_

_Nothing noble in your fate_

_Christ, what have you done?_

Silver eyes drifted opened, blinking blearily at the frescoed ceiling. It took him many moments to decipher what he was staring at, before he realized that he was in his own bedroom. _I'm still alive, _he thought muzzily, blinking slowly in the dim light. The loud creaking of a chair startled the blond, and he looked to his left, eyes widening in shock as he saw Potter sitting by his bed, emerald eyes red rimmed and puffy.

"What in _Merlin's_ name were you _thinking_?" Harry barked harshly, his voice roughened as if he'd been crying for hours. By the look of his eyes, Draco could almost believe it. Before the blond could answer, the raven continued angrily. "It's a good thing that Tom's magic and my magic are compatible or else you'd have _died_. Don't _ever_ do that to me again!" Finished ranting, the brunet launched himself out of the chair and onto Draco's prostrate form, startling a pained _oof_ from the boy. His arms reflexively wrapped around Harry, pulling him into a tight hug before relaxing his grip a little. A cold nose burrowed itself into Draco's neck, and he giggled slightly as the boy in his arms squirmed a little to get comfortable. There was a companionable silence for a time before Draco finally felt like speaking.

"I didn't see any other choice," he said quietly, hand automatically burrowing into Harry's coal locks and stroking gently. "All my life, I'd been held up to an impossible standard by my father, and every time I'd failed at something, his disappointment buried me. When I was tasked to befriend you and bring you to the Dark, my father made it clear that this was the most important assignment I could ever have been given. To pluck the Boy Who Lived from the Light's grasping clutches. When you turned away from me that first meeting, I was crushed. It wasn't _only_ that I had disappointed my father; I'd felt a _connection_ to you that I'd been looking for my whole life. I didn't know what I had done, but I was certain that I could change your mind somehow. When you hooked up with the Weasel, I _knew _you'd be mine. After all, his poverty and classlessness would count against him, thereby making you more willing to befriend me. Imagine my disappointment and anger when you chose _him_ over _me_.

"From that point, it wasn't a matter of befriending you; it was a matter of getting you for the Dark, then for our Lord when he returned to us. I put my feelings away so that I could concentrate on my task. Unfortunately, every time I tried to get you, something would interfere and you'd slip from my fingers." The blond laughed self-deprecatingly before he continued. "I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of Lucius Abaraxas Malfoy, couldn't corral a puny, scrawny orphan. You've always had incredible, dumb luck on your side, and had somehow earned the devotion of the most surprising people. Everyone kept running interference for you, and I could never get close enough to you to grab you. Every time my father heard about my failures, courtesy of Pansy Parkinson, of course, he would heap his disappointment on my head. I'd finally gotten tired of everything, and figured the only way to stop all of the pressure and pain and disappointment was to kill myself. Of course, _you_ had to interfere with that, as well."

_All of us get lost in the darkness_

_Dreamers learn to steer by the stars_

_All of us do time in the gutter_

_Dreamers turn to look at the cars  
_

* * *

"Because of your harsh, uncompromising treatment of your son, you very nearly cost me _two_ most remarkable young men," Tom barked at the elder Malfoy. Lucius flinched at the harsh tone of his Lord, trembling. He was unaware of the circumstances surrounding his son's injuries, but was sure that it was the boy's own doing.

"I apologize, my Lord, but I am unsure as to how it is my fault that Draco was injured." Riddle glared angrily at the thoughtless blond, before gritting his teeth and raising his wand.

"Your son attempted to _kill himself_ by jumping from the Astronomy tower. If it weren't for Potter and myself, he would have _died_. As it was, Potter very nearly followed your son over the parapet." Seeing the sneer on the blond's face before he could mask it, the Dark Lord continued, wand raising ever higher in his rage. "For your information, Lucius," he hissed, "both of those fine young men are worth _ten_ of you. In spite of your treatment of him, Draco did his damnedest to bring Harry to the Dark, and by extension me, and he succeeded in ways you could never imagine or comprehend. Harry and Draco are to be _bonded_ as soon as it can be arranged, and Harry has been made my Heir." Tom flicked his wand at the elder Malfoy, watching with pleasure as he fell to the floor, screaming and twitching in pain. Riddle held him under the curse for several minutes before releasing it, smirking as the blond continued to twitch and flinch as he rose shakily to his feet. Severus, who had been standing behind the Dark Lord, nodded his approval. He had also felt that the elder Malfoy was too arrogant for his britches, and had needed to be brought down several pegs.

"Draco is a remarkable young man, Lucius," Snape said, looking at the Malfoy patriarch with something like pity. "I would be proud to call him son, and if I have my way, I _will_. He had expressed to me, more than once, that he wished I had been his father, and I have our Lord's permission to make that wish a reality. Narcissa has happily provided pensieve memories to the Wizengamot, and is at this moment severing your parental rights. She is also filing for divorce, and wishes to come live with Draco and myself at Prince Manor." Lucius' eyes had widened in terror, and he collapsed to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "You've lost _everything_, Lucius, because you could not see the grievous harm you were doing to your son."

"Our meetings will now be held at Prince Manor, and I've had Riddle Manor renovated for Harry and Draco, as a bonding present. They are both under fidelius, and you will never have access to either Manor unless specifically invited by myself, Draco, Harry, Narcissa, or Severus. As of this moment, you are now in the lowest of echelons of my Death Eaters. You must earn your way back into my good graces, and believe me, Lucius, that will not be easy." With that, the Dark Lord stalked from the den, going directly to Draco's bedchambers to speak with the boys. Lucius fell to his side and rolled onto his back, staring sightlessly at the ceiling, fear and grief battling within his soul. Severus walked to the man on the floor, looking down into vacant grey eyes.

"I hope, for your sake Lucius, that you _wake up_. If you don't _see_ and _understand _what you've done, I fear the Dark Lord will lose patience with you and you will not live beyond his wrath."

* * *

"This is _yours_?" Draco asked incredulously, looking with wonder at the entrance hall to Riddle Manor. The vaulted ceilings looked as if they reached into forever, and the walls were covered with a beautiful spring green wallpaper. Harry had seen the original color scheme and, though he had officially aligned with the Dark, he didn't want his home to be dismal and dungeon-like. To that end, he'd instructed his father to have the décor lightened and brightened.

"It's _ours_, if you'll have me," the raven answered shyly. Draco turned astonished silver eyes to the brunet next to him, mouth hanging open. Chuckling, Harry reached over and gently pushed the blond's chin up, closing his mouth. Unable to resist any longer, he ran his finger softly over Draco's jaw, sliding it up to the other teen's ear and gently caressing the shell, smiling slightly as he felt and saw Draco shiver from the tender contact. Malfoy leaned forward, pressing his mouth to Harry's, and a small whimper of need escaped the brunet as his lips parted, allowing Draco's tongue in to play. Before they could get into the kiss, a house elf popped in, startling both young men. Pulling apart, Harry looked at the diminutive creature, emerald eyes lighting up with happiness.

"Dobby!" the raven exclaimed happily. "What are you doing here?"

"We is bonded, Master Harry Potter, sir," the elf replied, bouncing a little in his happiness. "When you freed Dobby, you promised to protect me. That promise is a vow to house elves, and we is bonded. I go where Master Harry Potter sir goes." Draco snickered at the complete devotion he could see in the overlarge eyes, nudging Harry fondly.

"I'm glad you're here," the brunet said. "Since you're now my bonded house elf, you will be in charge of the Manor. I need you to coordinate with the other house elves to ensure that Draco has everything he could ever desire. Set up the Master suite for the both of us, and have the elves prepare the Manor for a bonding ceremony."

* * *

"We are here to witness the bonding of Harry James Potter-Riddle to Draco Severus Prince-Snape. Is there any who believe this union should not stand? Speak now, for you will not be able to disagree to it later." Silence met the officiate's declaration, and he continued. "Do you, Harry James Pottter-Riddle, take Draco Severus Prince-Snape, to be your bonded spouse for the rest of eternity, on your magic so say you?"

"I do."

"And do you, Draco Severus Prince-Snape, take Harry James Potter-Riddle as your bonded spouse for the rest of eternity, on your magic so say you?"

"I do."

"May I have the bonding collars, please?" Narcissa stepped forward with two walnut cases levitating before her. Harry turned and opened the one nearest him, pulling out a platinum collar that was an inch wide. In the center of the front of the collar rested an emerald with the Slytherin crest carved into it. Harry placed the collar around Draco's neck, where it sealed seamlessly, ensuring that the collar would never be removed or lost. The flash of magic bound Draco's soul to Harry's and the blond arched slightly at the feeling. Recovering quickly, he turned and took the remaining collar, placing it around Harry's neck. It had a tsavorite garnet of a deep emerald color in the center, in which was carved the Prince family crest. It sealed with the same flash of magic, connecting Harry's soul to Draco's.

"Magic has deemed these two gentlemen soul mates and life mates," the officiate continued. "May the gods and goddesses bless this union with love, laughter, and children."

* * *

"Merlin," Draco gasped as a rough tongue ran over a pebbled nipple. "_Please_ Harry. _Please_." The raven grinned as he took the nipple in his mouth, suckling, while his hands were busy stroking and caressing pale flesh. A mewling moan erupted when one of those hands finally engulfed a hardened cock, the thumb running through the pre-come quivering on the tip and smearing it over sensitized flesh. Draco arched into Harry's hand, and the brunet quickly left the nipple to swallow the erection. A quavering cry filled the bedroom, hands gripping tightly to unruly coal locks. A deep chuckle vibrated pleasantly along swollen flesh, and hips thrust up at the unexpected stimulation. A slick finger circled a tight pucker, and Draco mewled again as that finger gently and slowly breached the ring of muscles.

By the time Harry had finished preparing Draco, he had three fingers buried deeply in the blond's arse, fingers stroking almost constantly against his prostate and making Draco thrust erratically into the brunet's mouth. The pleas for release went unheeded as Harry continued to tease his husband mercilessly. Finally, when Harry's hardened flesh became too painful to stand, he quickly removed his fingers, slicking up his cock and thrusting into Draco's willing body at nearly warp speed. Both boys paused, Harry trembling violently as he fought to contain the impending orgasm. Draco huffed out a breathless laugh at the look of intense concentration on Harry's face, and the raven scowled at the blond before pulling nearly completely out and slamming back home with force, making Draco arch and scream. Their coupling was fast and furious, both fighting their orgasms, trying to outlast the other. Draco arched, bellowing as Harry's cock slammed into his prostate, forcing an earth-shattering orgasm from the blond. Constricting muscles around Harry's already overly sensitive cock pulled his orgasm from him with a pathetic whimper.

Collapsing exhaustedly onto the inert form beneath him, Harry huffed and puffed, trying to regain his breath and his senses. What felt like hours later, the raven heard a smug chuckle in his ear but he was too tired to do more than bite the blond's shoulder.

"Next time, _I_ get to top," Draco said. Harry grunted, the only response he could muster.

* * *

_Turn around and turn around and turn around_

_Turn around and walk the razor's edge_

_Turn around and walk the razor's edge_

_Turn around and walk the razor's edge_

_Don't turn your back and slam the door on me_


End file.
